Because it's been a while....

Because it's been a while and I'm dying to post another little selection of writing for you all:


“Clear!” someone shouted.

My body jumped as electricity jolted through me. I floated toward the ceiling as the electricity jolted through me a second time. Then the searing pain started. It started in my brain and worked its way slowly down my spine and out to my arms and legs, all the way down to my fingers and toes. I was paralyzed. I couldn’t move. Or scream. All I felt was pain.
“Anything?” Someone asked.

“Clear!”
Jolt! The burning pain intensified.
“Check the monitors!” a man yelled. “Any activity at all?”
 
“None, Doctor,” an unfamiliar voice said near my head.
“Clear!”
Jolt! The pain was unbearable.
“Anything yet?”
 
“Nothing yet, sir.”
 
“Then we try again,” the man said, clearly determined.
“Sir? There’s no activity. It’s no use, she’s gone.”
 
“I don’t care! Clear!”
Another jolt of electricity rushed through my body. Excruciating pain followed. And then I felt the slamming against my chest, so hard that I couldn’t tell whether it was my own heart trying to explode, or someone trying desperately to get it to start again. Machines began beeping steadily somewhere in the background and someone sighed loudly out of relief and exhaustion. The floating feeling disappeared as the pain encompassed me. I drifted on past the edge of consciousness and into complete darkness.

Editing

Editing is the hardest part for me. Taking what I've written and changing it so it sounds better and makes more sense? Why would I want to do that?! ;)

But I've been learning a TON lately. Like, did you know in America we drop the double l in "canceled"? Or that we spell gauge "gage"? Yeah, I didn't either. Stupid American English. Being all different from the rest of the world. haha

But, the good news is that this past week I have edited just over 1/3 of The Sector. I'm hoping to reach halfway by tomorrow (keep your fingers crossed for me, will you?).

It's taken me a little longer than I expected because in the middle of all of this editing craziness I decided to get SCUBA certified. Yep, breathing underwater is my new thing. Who knows? Maybe it will make an appearance in a future book? That could potentially be cool.

Anyway, I'll post when I get closer to finishing. Hopefully it will be soon!!

Because I'm ADD

I know I have about fifty other projects I should be working on, especially The Sector, which is currently in the editing stages. Tonight I should be editing chapter 4. Of 32. I've been doing one chapter a night. It's pretty intense and can take anywhere from 4 to 8 hours. Yikes! This is going to take forever! Hopefully I can get some extra chapters done on the weekends so this book can come out SOON! Well, soon-ish. I still have to get a cover. *sigh*

*HINT HINT* Fabulous little brother of mine who is my cover artist, if you are reading this: PLEASE HURRY! I need my cover! hahahaha :)


Anyway, like I was saying: I have about 50 projects floating around in my brain fighting for space. So, naturally, another project decided to rear its little head and implant an idea that I just can't shake. I've been thinking about it for almost a week and I can't let it go. In fact, I'm half tempted to leave my other projects in favor of this one, but there's a certain person who shall remain nameless (Kim) that would absolutely kill me if I didn't finish the Sector series first.

So because I can't let it go and I am dying from not having anything from the Sector to share, here is a snippet from my newest project:



I sank to the floor, sliding my back down along the wall. I was tired, and the guilty feeling in my gut weighed heavily on me.

"You okay?" he asked, walking up to me.

I shook my head. I tried to hide my feelings, but he had a sixth sense when it came to me. he slid down the wall until he was sitting beside me on the floor.

"What's wrong?"

I shook my head again and reached out for his hand, taking it in mine and resting them on the floor between us.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," I lied. "Where've you been staying?"

"They let me back into the house," he smiled.

"Good!"

I tried to be happy for him, and I smiled, but it wasn't genuine.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Again with the lies. I was on a roll. The knot in my stomach tightened.

"Come on, you can tell me."

"I just really missed you is all."

I told a half-truth. It was better than the full truth at least.

He didn't say anything at first, just sat there in silence. I sighed and leaned my head on his shoulder.

"I missed you too," he whispered in my ear as he rested his cheek on the top of my head. "So much it hurt."

He spun the diamond ring on my finger around and around. I looked down at it and prayed the guilt I felt didn't show on my face.

And then Josh walked over to us. I wanted to crawl under a rock and hide. I wanted to be teleported out of there. I didn't want to confront him. Not there, not now. Not ever.



So, there you have it! Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave a comment with your guess as to what happens! (I know some of you are going to tell me I'm evil for leaving you hanging, but guess what? I like being evil. bwahahahahaha!) ;)

Finally editing again!!

I've been so busy with my day job and Camp Nano this past month that I haven't had any time to edit The Sector. But, now that May is here, I am bound and determined to finish editing it and get my cover made/ordered!

Guys, I'm seriously so excited about this. So, because I can't wait, and editing makes me want to share it with you all - and, let's be honest, I'm a little hopped up on allergy meds right now - here is a little snippet for your reading pleasure:

“I’m not afraid of your father.”

“How do you know?” I taunted, feeling much younger than I was. “You don’t even know who my father is. Why don’t you guess?”

"No need,” he said haughtily as he repacked the basket. “He’s clearly someone who works in the labs, or else you wouldn’t be here.”

And at that moment I swear I heard him mutter under his breath, “Which would certainly make my life easier.” I caught myself mid-giggle and made an unattractive choking noise instead. I felt my ears burn as he looked up at me.  --The Sector, out later this year!!


Oh, and for those of you who were wondering, I WON Camp Nano! :)

An excerpt

Due to some requests I've received, here is an excerpt from my upcoming novel The Sector, due out later this year!


"I'm fine," I insisted.
"Fine," he huffed, crossing his muscled arms over his chest. "Then prove me wrong. Get out of the rover by yourself and walk over there and explain that it was all a big misunderstanding."
I was screwed. There was no way I could make it over to the medical team, let alone get out of the rover by myself. He was calling my bluff. I sighed in defeat.
"I knew it," Rawlings gloated as he climbed out of the vehicle.
I was about to let him help me out of the rover when Sergeant Davis pulled up in another patrol rover. He hopped down and strode over to us.
"Don't tell me you're refusing help?"
"I was thinking about it," I admitted. "I'm fine, I promise."
"Really? Because that's not what it looked like out in the field," Sergeant Davis practically barked. I nodded. He growled and threw up his hands in frustration. "Fine, prove me wrong. Get out of the rover and walk yourself into the building to your dad."
"That's what I told her, Davis," Rawlings chimed in. "I almost had her admitting she needed help, too, but she must've changed her mind again. Women."
He shook his head and rolled his eyes as he walked away toward his post at the main gate. Davis nodded in agreement. He took a step back from the vehicle, his arms folded across his broad chest, waiting for me to prove that I didn't need any help. I took a deep breath and gritted my teeth. The pain would be excruciating, but I wanted to prove him wrong. I braced my hands against both sides of the open rover door and turned my body so my feet dangled out the side of the vehicle. Slowly I lowered myself onto the ground, landing with my right foot first. I babied my left ankle as I leaned as casually as I could against the rover for support.
"See?" I smiled triumphantly, daring him to contradict me.
"Walk over to the med team," Davis ordered.
I nodded as I surveyed the distance I had to walk. It was only about six feet, but I began doubting whether I could make it. I clenched my teeth and, determined to reach the waiting medical team without falling, took a step forward onto my left foot. The pain was agonizing and my ankle buckled under my weight. I started to fall forward. My arms flailed as they grasped wildly for anything to hold onto for support. Sergeant Davis rushed forward and caught me in his arms just as I was about to slam into the ground.
"Told you so," he whispered gleefully in my ear as he helped me back to my feet.

---The Sector---coming soon!

Hope you enjoyed it!! :)

Camp Nano

I've been stuck. I haven't written for days. I got so behind that I didn't think I'd be able to catch up. Okay, so maybe I was only like 4000 words behind, but when you have to write almost 2000 words per day on top of that, it seemed like a lot.

Well last night I told myself that I if I got the dishwasher started and a load of laundry going, I could write for an hour and a half while the wash was in. I ended up writing for 2 hours because I can't just leave in the middle of a chapter. But I wrote! I caught up! And then I even got a few hundred words ahead of schedule!

I had been stuck. I hit a wall last week and I just couldn't figure out how to get around it. I decided to try taking the story in a completely different direction. I changed narrators, and the story started coming. In fact, I had to stop myself from continuing or else I would have stayed up all night. (Well, that and I had to edit a chapter of The Woods so I can get that published!)

So far I'm really excited about how this is progressing. And despite how busy things have been at my day job, I really think I might actually make my goal of 50,000 words this month. Maybe I'll post an excerpt later? Or maybe I'll wait and post an excerpt from The Woods or from The Sector instead. ;)  You'll have to wait and see :)

Writing Class

In January I signed up for a writing class. It's a 2 year Novel class. It's supposed to help develop characters, themes, settings, plots, etc. and basically help develop and hone my writing skills.

It's hard! I've been so behind that I'm just barely catching up. I just finished Friday's assignment. We were supposed to list out all of the characters in our book and what they do/who they are, and if they are the protagonist, antagonist, or secondary characters. I wrote out my list. It's huge. And full of a ton of secondary characters. We just finished up developing our characters this week, so I hope that soon we'll be able to get down to writing. I cannot wait to work on this story!

Stay tuned for more updates. I'm thinking this one will either be called Lost or Broken. I haven't quite decided. We'll see how everything turns out. Who knows? Maybe it will end up with something completely different. ;)